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Editor's Note: This exclusive editorial content is made possible through a partnership with the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. The following dispatch is from Monday, June 9.
We’re hanging in there, I guess. Today was a practice round for us too and we learned a lot. There were some kinks to iron out, but I guess you’re gonna get that when you’re trying to mow greens in the dark. And everyone’s putting pressure on themselves because they don’t want to be the ones to mess it up. They all want to be perfect. That’s a great goal, but it’s probably unrealistic.
One thing we didn’t anticipate was the logjam that the security checks caused. This was the first day they’ve had security in place and there was just one guy scanning badges as we crossed the road from the maintenance facility to the golf course. That doesn’t work real well when you’ve got close to 100 people and machinery revved up and ready to get started.
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I’m expecting there will be more people with scanners there tomorrow at 4.30 a.m. There will need to be because we want to be done and out of the way by 8 a.m. or soon after so the players don’t see us. We don’t want to be an issue at all for them.
I spent some time hanging out around the greens today just watching shots come in and seeing how the ball reacted. We are a bit concerned about No. 9 green being too firm at the moment. We don’t want good shots ending up OB or up against TV towers. For some reason, the greens on No. 8 through No. 18 are a little faster than No. 1 through No. 7, although No. 6 is okay. We’ll soften up No. 9 a touch and double cut those first few holes to tweak things. We’ll get it right.
The feedback from players really ramped up today and it was so cool to catch a glimpse of what they were saying on the Golf Channel now and then. One of our volunteers, Mick Holmes, is from the UK. He is a good friend of Alan Owen, one of our assistants. Nick was filling divots out on the 14th fairway when Ian Poulter came by. Nick asked his countryman what he thought of the golf course and apparently Ian Poulter says: “Absolutely fantastic.” So Mick shouts after him: “Well, I hope you win then!”
I haven’t really spoken to any players yet but I did have a brief chat with Stevie Williams, Adam Scott’s caddie, the other day and he was really positive. He said they loved the golf course and thought it would play great.
The atmosphere amongst everyone on the crew this week is tremendous. It got even better today when my mom and my youngest daughter, Grace (11), brought the crew a big batch of chocolate chip cookies. Grace helped bake them so she was pretty excited. I got to enjoy a little “championship moment” of my own about 6.30 tonight when I took mom and Grace for a spin around the golf course. That was a nice way to wind down the back end of the day after the traffic jam in the morning!
Trent Bouts assisted in the creation of this article.
